I’ve watched hundreds of hours of theatre as a culture journalist, but Blue Mist has stayed with me in a way few productions have. Written by Mohammad-Zain Dada and directed by Milli Bhatia, the Olivier Award-nominated play follows three young South Asian Muslim men, Jihad, Rashid and Asif, as they gather at Chunky’s Shisha Lounge to decompress, joke around and navigate the tangled realities of identity, ambition and masculinity.

At the heart of the story is Jihad, an aspiring journalist caught between his loyalty to his friends and the demands of an industry that so often reduces Muslims to click-bait-driven headlines. As he tries to hand the microphone back to his community, he finds himself confronting a media landscape built on fear, suspicion and dehumanisation.

What results is a politically and socially urgent production that explores the difficulties minorities face while navigating the media landscape, asks difficult questions about who gets to tell stories and explores the emotional weight of trying to change a system from within. Pulsing with energy yet still grounded in humour, tenderness and humanity, Blue Mist is one of those rare plays that feels just as, if not more, urgent today as it did when it premiered at London’s Royal Court Theatre in 2023.

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Blue Mist is on tour from 10th July until 30th July in London, Birmingham and Leicester.

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Now touring the UK, the production arrives at Stratford East from 10th to 14th July. Ahead of its hometown run, I sat down with Mohammad-Zain and Milli to talk about the play’s enduring relevance, the responsibility of storytelling, and what it means to make theatre about British Muslims in a post-7th October media landscape.

For anyone who hasn’t seen Blue Mist yet, how would you describe the play?

Zain: It’s about three childhood friends, now in their twenties, set in a fictional shisha lounge and explores our community’s sense of ambition and success. It touches on the tension between integrity, ambition and what it takes to succeed today. You might have to compromise on your values to get to where you want to get to.

You’ve been taking Blue Mist to audiences across the country. How have different audiences responded, and have any regional reactions surprised you?

Milli: It’s been joyful. For us, when working on the play three years ago, we knew the audience was wider than London, and we wanted to be specific about where we took the show and bring it to our communities. That has definitely happened so far, and it’s been a joy to bring this show to people. 

Zain: There was a night in Leeds where a few lads from Bradford came, and they owned a shisha lounge and invited us to come. They also said it was the second show they saw after Shrek. I was really curious about which one they thought was better.

Milli: I did ask them, and they said it was ours. But they would say that! We went to Bradford to their shisha lounge, and it was amazing. I think it was the first time our work has ever been compared to Shrek The Musical.

Zain, where did the idea for Blue Mist first come from? Was there a particular moment or story that sparked it?

Zain: In my twenties, I would have such stupid conversations with my friends in shisha lounges. Now in my early thirties, emphasis on early, I don’t smoke shisha anymore, but I remember those conversations and how formative those experiences felt. I also had a brief moment about wanting to go into journalism, and I’d write opinion pieces when I was 18 that no one read.

When I began working at the Bush Theatre as an intern in 2018, I was engaging with theatre for the first time, and a director there encouraged me to start writing. I met Milli there, too, and I was blown away by her work. So, I started writing some monologues from Jihad’s perspective and a few years later, I came back to them, developed them further and submitted them to an introductory playwriting course at the Royal Court.

Milli, what was it about Blue Mist that made you want to be part of it as a director?

Milli: The script. He shared a draft with me when we were at the Bush Theatre together, and I’d never read anything like it, which I still feel like today. It’s funny yet ambitious and rooted in political discourse, which felt so dexterous. It made me laugh so much, but also challenged me.

At the heart of this play, the question of whether we, as young South Asians or people of colour, can benefit from a system that wasn’t built for us or by us is one we often ask. It’s universal and bigger than the theme of journalism, and a lot of our audience felt seen in that. It’s such a gift as a director, as it oscillates between a shisha lounge and a psychological space with Jihad. I was excited by its theatricality, and what it wanted to say. I’ve never read a play that represents young Pakistanis in the way that this play does.

This isn’t the play’s first life. How has it evolved since its original run, and what feels different this time around? In particular, what have the new cast members brought to the production?

Zain: The final scene in the play was written during our first rehearsals. It was frantic, but as a new writer, I discovered that working with actors and a crew can offer interesting insights and a different voice that add to the show. This time round, it feels like I can just turn up and be there for the vibes because it’s been lived in.

Milli: Just as our previous cast [Arian Nik and Salam Akhar] were, our new actors [Azan Ahmed and Kashif Ghole] are utterly joyful, so hardworking and brave with the material. They bring different things to the role, which works with the rewrites that Zain has done, and shows that we are at a different place in the world compared to where we were three years ago. There is a wider discourse happening around how we understand Islamophobia in the media and its harmful impact. It’s been liberating in many ways to start again with new brains in the room and a new relationship to the material. The actors have brought such gifts, and the show itself is now on a bigger stage.

Has there been an audience reaction or post-show conversation that has particularly stayed with either of you?

Milli: For me, it has to be the three amazing men that owned that shisha lounge in Bradford. With all my work, but this show in particular, I wanted it to reach our communities, and I felt honoured that we were the second play they’ve ever seen. Sometimes, we can underestimate the power that theatre can have, and while there are barriers to access in the way, I hope our industry can continue to become more accessible. I feel privileged that people who don’t usually go to the theatre have come to see our play.

Zain: We had a group of 20-something guys come from Bradford, and they were so excited about the show. It felt so special to hear that, and what’s exciting about touring is having people in the audience who don’t usually go to the theatre. It reminds you what you do it for.

The play explores journalism, truth and misinformation at a time when trust in institutions feels especially fragile in the wake of October 7. How has that added context changed the production?

Zain: Over two years into the genocide in Gaza, the play looks a lot closer at the media industry and compromises of Muslim journalists working in the West. For me, it’s disturbing to see Palestinian journalists questioned by institutions and governments to such a degree that their work and humanity is undermined. It’s a moral rot to not recognise this and hold Israel to account for their war crimes, and you can feel the same energy from our audiences who often vocalise the same thoughts after the production.

Milli: To add, it also poses the question of who is a credible storyteller and who we believe is telling the truth; what gets published and believed is, at the heart, who we believe is human, and this play asks those questions through Jihad. It’s inevitable that the conversation extends to Palestine and Palestinian journalists.

When people leave the theatre after seeing Blue Mist, what do you hope stays with them on the journey home?

Zain: Azan said this really beautifully, that their job as actors is to make the audience fall in love with these three young boys. I want audiences to leave having enjoyed themselves, learned and with a sense of joy and love.

Milli: I hope people have a good night out. It’s theatrical, funny, as well as politically urgent, and I hope that it makes people think, but also feel.

Blue Mist is on tour from 10th July until 30th July in London, Birmingham and Leicester.